Treating the injured

Maulik Trivedi, 1987 Fleetwood High School graduate, is an emergency room physician a has a private practice in Livingston, N.J.

Editor's note: Dr. Maulik Trivedi, 41, of New York saw the planes hit the towers from his apartment and became one of the first physicians on the scene.

Where were you? In my Jersey City, N.J., apartment.

What did you do? They evacuated my building and I was identified as a physician and taken by a police boat to the World Trade Center site.

What is your most vivid memory? The amount of destruction and debris, the chaos, the way all people came together to help. There were people tending the wounded, others setting up a makeshift morgue, people making food for the workers.

How has 9/11 changed you? It has made me feel much more connected to New York.

How has it changed America? I believe that America is more secure, guarded, and maybe even more restrictive, but it has not changed the core of the country and what it stands for. In fact, I think it has made Americans even more resolute in their convictions.

How will you commemorate the 10th anniversary? I think I'll be working.

What lessons have we learned from 9/11? One of the lessons is that there are heroes and role models all around us. Firefighters, police, EMS personnel, nurses and volunteers, these people were and continue to be true American heroes.